---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Jeremiah 46"
description: "CHAPTER 46   :-. THE
PROPHECIES, FORTY-SIXTH
THROUGH FIFTY-SECOND
CHAPTERS, REFER
TO FOREIGN PEOPLES. He begins with Egypt, being the
country to which he"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/jeremiah/46"
---

CHAPTER 46

. THE
PROPHECIES, FORTY-SIXTH
THROUGH FIFTY-SECOND
CHAPTERS, REFER
TO FOREIGN PEOPLES.
He begins with Egypt, being the
country to which he had been removed. The forty-sixth chapter
contains two prophecies concerning it: the discomfiture of
Pharaoh-necho at Carchemish by Nebuchadnezzar, and the long
subsequent conquest of Egypt by the same king; also the preservation
of the Jews ([Jeremiah 46:27](../../../kjv/jeremiah/46/27); [Jeremiah 46:28](../../../kjv/jeremiah/46/28)).

**1.** General heading of the next
six chapters of prophecies concerning the Gentiles; the prophecies
are arranged according to nations, not by the dates.

**2.** Inscription of the first
prophecy.
**Pharaoh-necho**—He, when
going against Carchemish (Cercusium, near the Euphrates), encountered
Josiah, king of Judah (the ally of Assyria), at Megiddo, and slew him
there ([2 Kings 23:29](../../../kjv/2-kings/23/29); [2 Chronicles 35:20-24](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/35/20-24));
but he was four years subsequently overcome at Carchemish, by
Nebuchadnezzar, as is foretold here; and lost all the territory which
had been subject to the Pharaohs west of the Euphrates, and between
it and the Nile. The prediction would mitigate the Jews' grief for
Josiah, and show his death was not to be unavenged ([2 Chronicles 35:20-14](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/35/20-14)). He is famed as having fitted out a fleet of discovery from
the Red Sea, which doubled the Cape of Good Hope and returned to
Egypt by the Mediterranean.

**3.** Derisive summons to battle.
With all your mighty preparation for the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar,
when ye come to the encounter, ye shall be "dismayed" (). Your mighty threats shall end in nothing.
**buckler**—smaller, and
carried by the light-armed cavalry.
**shield**—of larger size,
and carried by the heavily armed infantry.

**4. Harness the horses**—namely,
to the war chariots, for which Egypt was famed ([Exodus 14:7](../../../kjv/exodus/14/7);
[Exodus 15:4](../../../kjv/exodus/15/4)).
**get up, ye horsemen**—*get
up* into the chariots. MAURER,
because of the parallel "horses," translates, "Mount
the *steeds.*" But it is rather describing the successive
steps in equipping the war chariots; first *harness* the horses
to them, then let the horsemen *mount* them.
**brigandines**—cuirasses,
or coats of mail.

**5.** (See on ). The language of astonishment, that an army so well
equipped should be driven back in "dismay." The prophet
sees this in prophetic vision.
**fled apace**—literally,
"fled a flight," that is, flee precipitately.
**look not back**—They do
not even dare to look back at their pursuers.

**6. Let not**—equivalent to the
strongest *negation. Let not* any of the Egyptian warriors think
to *escape by swiftness or by might.*
**toward the north**—that
is, in respect to Egypt or Judea. In the northward region, by the
Euphrates (see [Jeremiah 46:2](../../../kjv/jeremiah/46/2)).

**7. as a flood**— ([Jeremiah 47:2](../../../kjv/jeremiah/47/2);
[Isaiah 8:7](../../../kjv/isaiah/8/7); [Isaiah 8:8](../../../kjv/isaiah/8/8);
[Daniel 11:22](../../../kjv/daniel/11/22)). The figure is
appropriate in addressing Egyptians, as the Nile, their great river,
yearly overspreads their lands with a turbid, muddy flood. So their
army, swelling with arrogance, shall overspread the region south of
Euphrates; but it, like the Nile, shall retreat as fast as it
advanced.

**8.** Answer to the question in .
**waters . . . moved like the
rivers**—The rise of the Nile is gentle; but at the mouth it,
unlike most rivers, is much agitated, owing to the sandbanks impeding
its course, and so it rushes into the sea like a cataract.

**9.** Ironical exhortation, as in
[Jeremiah 46:3](../../../kjv/jeremiah/46/3). The Egyptians, owing
to the heat of their climate and abstinence from animal food, were
physically weak, and therefore employed mercenary soldiers.
**Ethiopians**—*Hebrew,
Cush:* Abyssinia and Nubia.
**Libyans**—*Phut,*
Mauritania, west of Egypt (compare [Jeremiah 46:3](../../../kjv/jeremiah/46/3)).
**shield**—The Libyans
borrowed from Egypt the use of the long shield extending to the feet
[XENOPHON, *Cyropædia,*
6 and 7].
**Lydians**—not the Lydians
west of Asia Minor ([Genesis 10:22](../../../kjv/genesis/10/22);
[Ezekiel 30:5](../../../kjv/ezekiel/30/5)), but the *Ludim,*
an African nation descended from Egypt (Mizraim) ([Genesis 10:13](../../../kjv/genesis/10/13);
[Ezekiel 30:5](../../../kjv/ezekiel/30/5); [Nahum 3:9](../../../kjv/nahum/3/9)).
**handle and bend the bow**—The
employment of *two* verbs expresses the manner of bending the
bow, namely, the foot being pressed on the center, and the hands
holding the ends of it.

**10. vengeance**—for the
slaughter of Josiah ([2 Kings 23:29](../../../kjv/2-kings/23/29)).
**sword shall devour . . . be .
. . drunk**—poetical personification ([2 Kings 23:29](../../../kjv/2-kings/23/29)).
**a sacrifice**— ([Isaiah 34:6](../../../kjv/isaiah/34/6);
[Ezekiel 39:17](../../../kjv/ezekiel/39/17)). The slaughter of the
Egyptians is represented as a sacrifice to satiate His righteous
vengeance.

**11. Gilead . . . balm**—(See on
[Jeremiah 8:22](../../../kjv/jeremiah/8/22)); namely, for curing
the wounds; but no medicine will avail, so desperate shall be the
slaughter.
**virgin**—Egypt is so
called on account of her effeminate luxury, and as having never yet
been brought under foreign yoke.
**thou shalt not be
cured**—literally, "there shall be no cure for thee"
([Jeremiah 30:13](../../../kjv/jeremiah/30/13); [Ezekiel 30:21](../../../kjv/ezekiel/30/21)).
Not that the kingdom of Egypt should cease to exist, but it should
not recover its former strength; the blow should be irretrievable.

**12. mighty . . . stumbled against .
. . mighty . . . fallen both together**—Their very multitude
shall prove an impediment in their confused flight, one treading on
the other.

**13-26.** Prophecy of the invasion
of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, which took place sixteen years after the
taking of Jerusalem. Having spent thirteen years in the siege of
Tyre, and having obtained nothing for his pains, he is promised by
God Egypt for his reward in humbling Tyre ([Ezekiel 29:17-20](../../../kjv/ezekiel/29/17-20);
[Ezekiel 30:1-31](../../../kjv/ezekiel/30/1-31)). The intestine
commotions between Amasis and Pharaoh-hophra prepared his way
(compare *Note,* see on [Ezekiel 30:1-26](../../../kjv/ezekiel/30/1-26),
&c.).

**14. Declare . . . publish**—as
if giving sentence from a tribunal.
**Migdol . . . Noph . . .
Tahpanhes**—east, south, and north. He mentions the three other
quarters, but omits the west, because the Chaldeans did not advance
thither. These cities, too, were the best known to the Jews, as being
in their direction.
**sword shall devour round
about thee**—namely, the Syrians, Jews, Moabites, and Ammonites
(see on [Jeremiah 46:4](../../../kjv/jeremiah/46/4)). The
exhortation is ironical, as in [Jeremiah 46:4](../../../kjv/jeremiah/46/4);
[Jeremiah 46:9](../../../kjv/jeremiah/46/9).

**15. thy valiant men**—manuscripts,
the *Septuagint,* and *Vulgate* read, "thy valiant
one," Apis, the bull-shaped Egyptian idol worshipped at Noph or
Memphis. The contrast thus is between the palpable impotence of the
idol and the *might* attributed to it by the worshippers. The
*Hebrew* term, "strong," or "valiant," is
applied to bulls ([Psalms 22:12](../../../kjv/psalms/22/12)).
Cambyses in his invasion of Egypt destroyed the sacred bull.
**drive them**—(Compare [Psalms 22:12](../../../kjv/psalms/22/12)). The *Hebrew* word is used of a sweeping rain ([Psalms 22:12](../../../kjv/psalms/22/12)).

**16. He**—Jehovah.
**made many to fall**—literally,
"multiplied the faller," that is, fallers.
**one fell upon another**—
([Jeremiah 46:6](../../../kjv/jeremiah/46/6); [Jeremiah 46:12](../../../kjv/jeremiah/46/12)):
even before the enemy strikes them ([Jeremiah 46:12](../../../kjv/jeremiah/46/12)).
**let us go again to our own
people**—the language of the confederates and mercenaries,
exhorting one another to desert the Egyptian standard, and return to
their respective homes ([Jeremiah 46:9](../../../kjv/jeremiah/46/9);
[Jeremiah 46:21](../../../kjv/jeremiah/46/21)).
**from the oppressing
sword**—from the cruel sword, namely, of the Chaldeans (compare
[Jeremiah 25:38](../../../kjv/jeremiah/25/38)).

**17. there**—in their own country
severally, the foreign soldiers () cry, "Pharaoh is," c.
**but a noise**—He
threatens great things, but when the need arises, he does nothing.
His threats are mere "noise" (compare ). MAURER
translates, "is *ruined,*" literally (in appropriate
abruptness of language), "Pharaoh, king . . . *ruin.*"
The context favors *English Version.* His vauntings of what he
would do when the time of battle should come have proved to be *empty
sounds he hath passed the time appointed* (namely, for battle with
the Chaldeans).

**18.** As the mountains Tabor and
Carmel tower high above the other hills of Palestine, *so*
Nebuchadnezzar ([Jeremiah 46:26](../../../kjv/jeremiah/46/26))
when he comes shall prove himself superior to all his foes. Carmel
forms a bold promontory jutting out into the Mediterranean. Tabor is
the higher of the two; therefore it is said to be "among the
*mountains*"; and Carmel "by the *sea.*"
**the King . . . Lord of hosts**—
([Jeremiah 48:15](../../../kjv/jeremiah/48/15)); in contrast to
"Pharaoh king of Egypt . . . but a noise" ([Jeremiah 48:15](../../../kjv/jeremiah/48/15)). God the true "*King* . . . the Lord *of
hosts,*" shall cause Nebuchadnezzar to come. Whereas Pharaoh
shall not come to battle *at the time appointed,*
notwithstanding his boasts, Nebuchadnezzar *shall come*
according to the prediction of the *King,* who has all *hosts*
in His power, however ye Egyptians may despise the prediction.

**19. furnish thyself**—literally,
"make for thyself vessels" (namely, to contain food and
other necessaries for the journey) for captivity.
**daughter**—so in .
**dwelling in Egypt**—that
is, the *inhabitants* of Egypt, the Egyptians, represented as
*the daughter of Egypt* ([Jeremiah 48:18](../../../kjv/jeremiah/48/18);
[2 Kings 19:21](../../../kjv/2-kings/19/21)). "Dwelling"
implies that they thought themselves to be securely fixed in their
habitations beyond the reach of invasion.

**20. heifer**—wanton, like a fat,
untamed heifer ([Hosea 10:11](../../../kjv/hosea/10/11)).
Appropriate to Egypt, where Apis was worshipped under the form of a
fair bull marked with spots.
**destruction**—that is, a
destroyer: Nebuchadnezzar. *Vulgate* translates, "a
goader," answering to the metaphor, "one who will *goad*
the *heifer*" and tame her. The *Arabic* idiom favors
this [ROSENMULLER].
**cometh . . . cometh**—The
repetition implies, it cometh surely and quickly ([Hosea 10:11](../../../kjv/hosea/10/11)).
**out of the north**—(See
on [Jeremiah 1:14](../../../kjv/jeremiah/1/14); [Jeremiah 1:14](../../../kjv/jeremiah/1/14)).

**21.** Translate, "Also her
hired men (mercenary soldiers, [Jeremiah 46:9](../../../kjv/jeremiah/46/9);
[Jeremiah 46:16](../../../kjv/jeremiah/46/16)), who are in the midst
of her like fatted bullocks, even they also are turned back,"
that is, shall turn their backs to flee. The same image, "heifer
. . . bullocks" ([Jeremiah 46:20](../../../kjv/jeremiah/46/20);
[Jeremiah 46:21](../../../kjv/jeremiah/46/21)), is applied to Egypt's
foreign mercenaries, as to *herself.* Pampered with the luxuries
of Egypt, they become as enervated for battle as the natives
themselves.

**22.** The cry of Egypt when
invaded shall be like the hissing of a serpent roused by the
woodcutters from its lair. No longer shall she loudly roar like a
heifer, but with a low murmur of fear, as a serpent hissing.
**with axes**—the Scythian
mode of armor. The Chaldeans shall come with such confidence as if
not about to have to fight with soldiers, but merely to cut down
trees offering no resistance.

**23. her forest**— ().
**though it cannot be
searched**—They cut down her forest, dense and unsearchable
([Job 5:9](../../../kjv/job/5/9); [Job 9:10](../../../kjv/job/9/10);
[Job 36:26](../../../kjv/job/36/26)) as it may seem:
referring to the thickly set cities of Egypt, which were at that time
a thousand and twenty. The *Hebrew* particle is properly, "for,"
"because."
**because**—the reason why
the Chaldeans shall be able to cut down so dense a forest of cities
as Egypt: they themselves are countless in numbers.
**grasshoppers**—locusts
([Judges 6:5](../../../kjv/judges/6/5)).

**13-26.** Prophecy of the invasion
of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, which took place sixteen years after the
taking of Jerusalem. Having spent thirteen years in the siege of
Tyre, and having obtained nothing for his pains, he is promised by
God Egypt for his reward in humbling Tyre ([Ezekiel 29:17-20](../../../kjv/ezekiel/29/17-20);
[Ezekiel 30:1-31](../../../kjv/ezekiel/30/1-31)). The intestine
commotions between Amasis and Pharaoh-hophra prepared his way
(compare *Note,* see on [Ezekiel 30:1-26](../../../kjv/ezekiel/30/1-26),
&c.).

**25. multitude**—*Hebrew,*
"Amon" ([Nahum 3:8](../../../kjv/nahum/3/8),
*Margin,* "No-Ammon"), the same as Thebes or Diospolis
in Upper Egypt, where Jupiter Ammon had his famous temple. In *English
Version,* "multitude" answers to "*populous*
No" ([Nahum 3:8](../../../kjv/nahum/3/8); [Ezekiel 30:15](../../../kjv/ezekiel/30/15)).
The reference to "their *gods"* which follows, makes
the translation more likely, "*Ammon* of No," that is,
No and her idol Ammon; so the *Chaldee Version.* So called
either from Ham, the son of Noah; or, the "nourisher," as
the word means.
**their kings**—the kings
of the nations in league with Egypt.

**26. afterward . . . inhabited**—Under
Cyrus forty years after the conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, it
threw off the Babylonian yoke but has never regained its former
prowess ([Jeremiah 46:11](../../../kjv/jeremiah/46/11); [Ezekiel 29:11-15](../../../kjv/ezekiel/29/11-15)).

**27, 28.** Repeated from [Jeremiah 30:10](../../../kjv/jeremiah/30/10);
[Jeremiah 30:11](../../../kjv/jeremiah/30/11). When the Church (and
literal Israel) might seem utterly consumed, there still remains
hidden hope, because God, as it were, raises His people from the dead
([Romans 11:15](../../../kjv/romans/11/15)). Whereas the
godless "nations" are consumed even though they survive, as
are the Egyptians after their overthrow; because they are radically
accursed and doomed [CALVIN].

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